


brother.

by bhubblemilk



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bhubblemilk/pseuds/bhubblemilk
Summary: Older siblings who are better than you in every way possible is a pain in the ass all the time.





	brother.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the corniest thing I’ve ever written.
> 
> Warning: swear words

You had traveled to other places with your family before, during the holidays when both you and Woojin were free from school for a maximum of two weeks. But those only happened when you two were younger, before you two entered the hustle bustle life of high school with extra work and little learning.

There was one vivid memory on the trip to Taiwan, though, when you got lost in a very crowded night market. You didn’t actually get lost, you were wandering off on your own since you saw an interesting store nearby while the rest of them were waiting in line for snacks.

You were lost in your own world for a few minutes before you saw Woojin stumbling toward your way, his worried look immediately masked by one of annoyance and impatience as soon as you glanced up at the call of your name. The first thing he did when he found you in the midst of all those people was to smack you across your shoulder.

“Smack me one more time and I’ll tear your arm straight off,” you threatened with the tip of your knife pointed Woojin’s way, your glare burning holes at his side profile.

“Mom asked you a question, you should answer,” he replied nonchalantly, not even sparing you a glance as he munched away on dinner. “She asked why you failed the English test.”

“Everyone failed it.” You shrugged.

Quite frankly, that wasn’t a lie. The test was hard and half of the class did fail. The teacher was considering if she should either drop the test altogether or curve the shit out of everyone’s grade. But that was just a piece of information for you to use when you didn’t want to hand yourself in and tell everyone that you didn’t even try to glance at the reading material, especially not when Woojin was present.

Your brother was better than you in everything, be it looks or intelligence or physique or talents. You weren’t even the lesser version of him, you were a zero version of him. All your family relatives made sure you get reminded of that every New Years, every Christmas, and every Thanksgiving.

Telling your mother you did not study for your test would only bring you another round of lecture of her stating the obvious.

“That isn’t a valid answer.”

You side-eyed Woojin, your brows furrowed in dismay, “You can leave me the hell alone.”

Your mother gasped, “(Name), watch your mouth, we are having dinner!”

You inhaled deeply, your eyes widened as you glared into space. Of course, your mother would be nick-picky with everything you say. She couldn’t even let one word slide. You bet if Woojin had said it, she would wave it off like it meant nothing.

“Whatever, I’m done, thanks,” you muttered under your breath as you grabbed your chopsticks and half-empty bowl before you pushed yourself away from the table. You entered the kitchen, where you gently lowered your bowl into the sink despite wanting to simply dump it in.

As you scrub the glass, you were slowly blaming Woojin for every single thing you had been accused of all over again in your head, including this one, all the while refusing to notice that you could have as easily prevented each and all of them.

The hatred you held for the difference in terms of the treatment you and him receives once again became the only thing you can remember.

“What did the bowl ever do to you?” Woojin laughed when he walked into the kitchen after you. He placed his empty one near the edge of the sink before reaching up to the cabinet where your mother stored all the mugs. “Do you want yuzu tea?”

You looked up, casually grabbing his bowl and cleaning it for him. “We still have it?” You asked, your voice suddenly free of the previously accumulated stress as the fog in your mind faded away with the mention of your favorite pass time drink.

“Yeah, mom got a new jar today,” Woojin replied, reaching into the refrigerator to pull out the giant orange jar. He set it down next to you and turned the lid open without a problem.

“Oh sweet, I was craving it today,” you said, putting away the wet utensils before proceeding to wipe your hands on your shirt.

“Use a towel, it’s literally right there,” Woojin grimaced without looking at you and his frown deepened when you slapped your hand to his white shirt, leaving a handprint mark near the hem of the fabric.

He shoved you away with one hand, pushing on your forehead, while his free hand stirred your yuzu tea that he had thought about dumping into the sink but only refrained from doing so because he didn’t want to waste the ingredient.

“Here,” he dropped the spoon in the mug and slid the cup over to your side. He waited for you to take a sip and only proceeded to make his own cup of tea after you nodded in approval.

As you stepped up to walk away, ready to head back into your room for some peace and quiet and definitely not some textbook and studying, Woojin stopped you by asking a sudden question. “Do you need my English notes from last year?”

You turned around with a shake of your head, “No, but I do need the project on the stock market for economics. Don’t worry, I am just going to use it for reference.”

Woojin hummed thoughtfully, “I thought that is a group project, you don’t need mine.”

You pursed your lips together. “Right, about that,” you started, staring at the surface of your drink with an unreadable expression. “I am flying solo on that project.”

“You? Solo? That is a huge project, (Name), are you sure?”

You gulped carefully. His dubious tone sent you shivers, it pointed out just how useless you really were academically and that finishing a project alone might not be within your capability. Flashbacks of yourself standing alone in the corner of your classroom as your classmates hurried to find their own group was vivid to you, and when the teacher offered to stick you in as an extra, you had refused due to the anxiety of being a nuisance to your classmates by destroying something perfect that they had formed.

“Yeah,” you laughed, “Just give it to me for reference, please?”

Woojin was staring at you now, his eyebrow raised knowingly that you felt like he had already seen through you. But you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him the truth, to tell him that you, up till this day, has no friends that were willing to work with you voluntarily while him, being the student council president, has a bunch of people helping him out with everything.

“I will give it to you when I find it,” he replied as he turned back to pay his attention to the yuzu tea he was making.

Your nails scratched gently across the handle of your mug as you looked at Woojin’s back with a hint of guilt. You knew he wouldn’t hesitate to help you if you asked for it, you used to do it when you two were younger. But as you grew older, you leaned more towards the method of hiding your problems away in your own little box instead, and that had been going on far too long for you to simply express your inner thoughts out anymore, not even to Woojin, who you used to be really close to.

Sometimes you wonder if it would hurt him to know that you were troubled secretly yet never reached out to him or if he wouldn’t feel anything at all, and most of the time, your conclusion leans to the latter.

* * *

Felix sighed in defeat at the way your hand paused as soon as you glanced at your English worksheet. It was at least the fifth time he explained this grammar concept to you and yet there was not one hint of realization in your eyes, the one that screams ‘I got it!’

He was irritated and getting more impatient by the second but he didn’t have the heart to be harsh to you, so he chose to spend his lunchtime sitting next to you instead.

When he scooted close to you and grabbed the pen from your hand gently, leaning over your shoulder to look at the question, you muttered a low apology that caused him to glimpse over at you.

“No, it’s okay. It’s hard learning a new language, I understand,” Felix waved it off, smiling reassuringly at you.

You let out a breath of relief, although still unsure of Felix’s true feelings about you taking up his break time. You told yourself that if he said he was okay, he should be, but the bundle of stress inside you kept telling you that he was just saying it to be nice to you and in reality, he hated it and you were right on top of his blacklist.

Knowing your tendency to drift away in your own negative thoughts, Felix once again assured you that he was fine, which he really was. His smile widened after you glanced at him for a moment and nodded with a pursed smile.

“You’re so nice, I wish everyone is as nice as you,” you said as you leaned your forehead against his shoulder, bumping against it lightly.

“I can hear you talking trash about me, (Name),” Woojin, who was sitting at his desk in the student council room, muttered without looking up from the club registration papers. “Also, you aren’t nice to me either, so why do I have to be nice to you? This isn’t a one-way street, (Name).”

“You see what I mean? I didn’t even mention him and he just thinks I’m talking about him, that paranoid bastard.” You sneered at your brother before leaning your head back on Felix’s shoulder. “You’re so much nicer to me. It’s a shame we aren’t in the same class.”

Felix chuckled nervously at the closeness, causing everyone in the room glanced up at the silent cry for help that escaped his lips. Chan raised an eyebrow in amusement before his eyes trailed back from Felix to his phone, intending for Felix to either learn to suppress his massive crush on you or learn how to give into it without making it too obvious.

“(Name), do you have your notes on literature? I wasn’t here yesterday,” Jisung asked from the corner of the room, coming to save Felix’s pathetic love life. The corner of his lips quirked up into a smile that you thought were only out of politeness when it really was just him wanting to laugh at how Felix was just friend-zoned in the most subtle way possible. “And the nice guy over there fell asleep in class.”

“Yeah sure, I’ll go get it,” you sat up straight and stood up. Making your way to the door, you stopped by Woojin’s desk where you grabbed his wooden chopsticks and stole a piece of the chicken your mother made for the both of you. You laughed when Woojin stared at you with a deadpan expression, completely and utterly unamused that you had to steal his portion even though you just finished yours.

Sliding open the door, you quickly turned around to the direction of your classroom when you bumped harshly into someone. The person let out a curse, making your heart leap in fear. When you glanced up, you found yourself face to face with an unfamiliar face.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, taking a step back to regain your composure.

Before the boy could speak, the door next to you opened, revealing Woojin with a stack of paper in his hand. “Hey, (Name), can you put these in Miss Kang’s locker?” He asked, even though he knew he would shove the documents to you even if you refused. As his voice dropped, he took notice of your embarrassed expression and his eyes trailed to the boy you had just bumped into. His brows furrowed, “Sejun? You’re here again?”

“No, I just bumped into…” He gestured toward you.

“(Name), but it’s okay. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have rushed,” you said without looking at Sejun, who happened to be more attractive than you had wanted him to be because bumping into someone good-looking and making a complete fool of yourself was exactly what you needed right now.

Snatching the papers from Woojin’s hand, you glared at him once before quickly leaving the scene by speed-walking down the hall. However, much to your dismay, Sejun caught up to you in no time as you walked down the stairs.

“Hey, (Name).”

You blinked, trying to process the fact that he was attempting to start a conversation with you and not being able to unlock the reason why he was doing this. “Yes?”

He laughed, a very light and hearty chuckle that sent sparks in your chest that you were very alert of, “Why do you sound so scared?”

“I do?”

He chuckled again, “A little, yes. But it’s okay. Let me introduce myself. My name is Sejun, I’m a junior, and you?”

A smile was playing on your lips now. You opened the locker and shoved the papers in, not minding the way they went out of order as you did so. It should be fine, Woojin could handle it. “You don’t know me? That’s weird, everyone and their class teacher knew I was the (Name), Woojin’s younger sibling in sophomore year.”

Sejun had on a genuinely surprised look on his face, “I thought Woojin was a single child.”

“And I thought you were a junior, where did your formality go?” You pointed out, crossing your arms as you came to a stop in the hallway. Sejun looked embarrassed at your accusation, he scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. It was making you giggle. “Why are you talking to me, Sejun-ssi?”

He was silent for a moment and you waited patiently and hopefully for his answer. “No reason,” he shrugged casually, “Just thought you were cute.”

The giddy aura that surrounded you when you walked back into the student council room made everyone look at you with a half curious, half disgusted expression. You were never this jumpy or flowy before, at least not during the first time they met you. You were mostly judgemental and a harsh kick to their shin instead of giggles and blushes.

“What happened?” Jisung asked as he gladly received your literature notes. He moved out of your way quickly as you skipped back over to sit next to Felix, afraid that your blinded sight would not allow him in even your peripheral vision and would instead let you step on his feet as you move on your way.

“Someone just called me cute,” you announced in a dreamy tone, cupping your cheeks with your hands.

Woojin raised an eyebrow questioningly, his expression almost too dramatic, but you were too far in your delusional fantasy to bother with distinguishing whether he was questioning who complimented you or why they had complimented you.

“Who, Sejun?” He pointed out, twirling the pen in his hand.

Jisung grimaced, “He says that to everyone.”

You clicked your tongue in annoyance. Here he goes again, here to ruin your dreams and step on your back whenever you feel remotely happy about something.

“Isn’t he the football guy? He’s pretty good, he’s no Hyunjin though,” Chan commented casually as he packed up his lunch. When you glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows, he only gave you a faint smile in return.

“Isn’t he kind of popular?” Felix added, unbeknownst to the way the light slowly drain from your eyes.

“Yeah, you heard them, (Name),” Woojin said pointedly, in a way that it both crushed your self-esteem and got your blood boiling in anger at the same time.

He was implying something and you liked to think you knew damn well what the implications were. Sejun was on the sports team, people—at least those with a school spirit—knew who he was and admired him the way they looked up to Woojin. With you constantly being overshadowed by your brother, with you being absolutely talentless and dull, there was no way in Hell Sejun had meant what he said to you.

You were half correct. Woojin—and everyone in the room—was trying to point out that there was no way in Sejun would choose to notice you voluntarily, but it wasn’t because you weren’t special, as you often deemed yourself to be, much to their dismay.

Sejun was one of those stupid high school varsity boys who cared about no one but himself. People are like candies to his kind—you eat it, you suck up their sweetness until there isn’t any left for you or anyone else, then you forget about it and go ahead to find another piece.

He was temporary heart tingles that leaves you with permanent scars at the end.

But of course, you being you, you were too occupied with letting the fresh feeling of interest consume you to remind yourself you needed to be cautious of him. You licked your lower lip, a scoff appearing on your face not too soon later.

“Whatever. Just because you think I’m ugly doesn’t mean everyone else does too.” You muttered under your breath as you stood up. “I’m leaving, I will see you guys around.”

“Wait–” Felix opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. He couldn’t even stutter out a half compliment as soon as you turned to look at him, your intimidating stare rendering him completely weak in the knees.

Breathing out a sigh of defeat, Felix’s shoulders slumped as he leaned forward to bury his face in his arms. He let out an annoyed groan, angry at himself for not seizing the opportunity to show not only that anyone could have complimented you exactly the way Sejun had, but that he would have meant what he said.

* * *

Woojin most definately wasn’t worried about your friendly relationship with Sejun at first, not when he seemed to have the ability to make you feel better than you would on a normal day. But you two have gotten extremely close lately that he was starting to worry that the part where Sejun spits you out like a piece of old gum would be arriving sooner than he had expected it to.

“What is he doing here?” Woojin asked when he opened the door to see Sejun standing behind you. He kept his expression neutral, something akin to boredom, as he opened the door wider for you two to come in.

“To help me with English,” you replied.

“I thought Felix is helping you with that. You dropped a native English speaker for a non-native English speaker?” Woojin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

You pursed your lips, your irritated bar raising higher by the second. “I don’t want to bother him during lunch anymore.”

“Trust me when I say Felix is completely fine with you bothering him for the rest of his life,” Woojin said as a subtle hint in which you dismissed all too quickly.

“I’ll just head to my room, you can wait in the living room if you want. I’ll be right out,” you said before rushing to the tiny hallway of your home and disappearing into the corner.

Woojin heaved a sigh when you skipped past him to head back into your room. You have chosen to completely ignore the signs that he had dropped you over the past few weeks, which he guessed it was understandable. You wanted friends, he knew, even though somehow you didn’t consider the rest of the boys as your friends (something he would much rather you do), and Sejun gave you one.

But this one-sided friendship you have with Sejun was giving you ideas. Frankly, Woojin wouldn’t mind your heart being broken once or twice during your teenage years, that was how you’re going to learn. But he thought that if you were going to go through heartbreak, it should be from a relationship that was once reciprocated, where you were once loved at the very least. Not from one that was never real.

It was the difference between a bittersweet ending and a straight up punch to your gut. The latter wasn’t the kind of pain Woojin wanted you to experience.

“What are you doing, Sejun?” Woojin asked, the boredom in his eyes faded into something even duller, yet there was a kind of fog in them that sent shivers down Sejun’s spine and made him to rigid.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if you are clinging onto them to get on my good side then you can forget about it,” he said, “We are not letting you become a part of the student council. Even if you do successfully suck up to me, Chan isn’t going to let you in. And Felix straight up hates you right now. Aren’t you satisfied enough with your football popularity?”

Sejun breathed out a nervous chuckle, but he masked it quickly by hardening his tone the same way Woojin had as he responded, “You are being a little too egotistical, don’t you think? Not everyone who befriends them is trying to please you.”

“I know, but it’s you this time so I’m fine with being a little self-involved,” Woojin shrugged, “So come on, tell me the truth, Sejun.”

Lying wouldn’t cut it this time. Woojin was watching him way too closely for him to slip away just like that. It intimidated him, a side of Woojin he had never seen before. Woojin was always so patient, so nice, soft-spoken but his words were loud, and Sejun just found out that if Woojin wanted to, his words could cut too.

“Why can’t you just give me a role?”

“The student council already has enough people working in it. We are doing fine, we don’t need unnecessary people,” Woojin replied, “Especially not those who would mess up the budget and schedule for their own liking. Sejun, there is a reason why people didn’t vote for you.”

“Felix is an exchange student, how is he qualified enough?” Sejun pressed on.

“Felix listens well. He is responsible and very good at keeping track of the numbers.” Woojin replied, “Also, his parents are moving here due to business reasons. He is staying here until he graduates so if you can kindly lay off his back, I will greatly appreciate it.”

Sejun scoffed, annoyed that he was exposed for his true intention and was asked to back off in the kindest yet lethal way possible. Words were one of his strong suits, but he was never one to know how to press on someone else’s weakness until they break. All he ever knew was to soften them up. Maybe it was a sibling thing.

He cursed under his breath, glaring daggers at Woojin before he turned around and left the house. Woojin shut the door behind him and locked up, relieved that the painful conversation was finally over. When he turned back around, he jumped at the sight of you in a more comfortable attire. You stared at the door, something that told Woojin you heard more than half of the conversation.

You blinked several times. You knew this was coming somehow. You were smart enough to know Sejun would never be interested in you or want to be your genuine friend, but you were too dumb and lonely to do anything about it. You let it go on and now the worst has happened. The embarrassing thing was that Woojin had to be the one to chase him away instead. Once again it was Woojin who has the upper hand while you stayed back who accept whatever was being thrown at you.

The frustration was real, but you weren’t going to show it to your brother.

“(Name)–”

“Felix is staying in Korea?” You asked casually.

Surprised, but accepting the fact that you didn’t want to talk about the incident, Woojin nodded in reply. “Yeah, but his parents aren’t moving over. I lied about that. His parents are going to send him money regularly, but he is going to have to find a place to stay.”

You hummed, “He can stay with us if he wants. I doubt it though, considering he hates Sejun and, well, I was friends with him for a little.”

You went inside the kitchen to grab yourself a glass of water, meanwhile planning on how to apologize to Felix about choosing to befriend a person he hates. You missed the way Woojin rolled his eyes with a chuckle at how dense you were when it comes to people who were willing to give you the world without a spoken request.

“Mom just texted, she is having dinner with her friends and dad is coming home late, so just cook some dinner,” you said as you walked past him.

“Do you want–”

“Not chicken,” you turned around with furrowed eyebrows, a look of utter hopelessness on your face.

“What? Why not, they’re great!”

You pursed your lips. You never really had the heart to tell him his cooking wasn’t as good as he thought it was and that Jisung had been lying his ass off every time. Feeling defeated, you shrugged, “Fine, whatever. Just call me when dinner is ready.”

You made your way back to your room. Shutting the door, you walked over to your desk and placed your glass down at the corner. Your fingers lingered at the surface as the quietness sunk in. You looked around the room. It was messy, there wasn’t anyone for you to tidy it up for, and there was definitely no one close enough to you that you didn’t have to care how messy your room looked to them.

There was no one. It was just you.

You ran the heel of your palm across your cheek harshly before gathering up your school papers and your pencil box. You made your way out of your room and set everything down on the dining table.

Woojin poked his head out of the kitchen, glancing at you curiously. “You’re doing your homework here?”

“Yeah, Woojin, what the fuck you have against that?” You asked, not even sparing him a glance.

Woojin pursed his lips together. You were probably mad at him so he decided to stay away for now. He returned back to the kitchen, minding his own business while you, with your eyes focused on your worksheet, quietly enjoyed the sound of his footsteps around the kitchen and the clashing sounds of cooking utensils.

Anything was better than the deafening silence in your room.

* * *

You really thought you had it bad with having no friends in your class, but apparently, you haven’t been through the process of having your schoolmates subtly pick on you and giving you the realization that you really were one hell of a lonely and unlikable person when there were absolutely zero people close enough to you that they were willing to stand up for you.

Well, you do have people who care about you. Everyone you hung out with, in the student council room, during lunch most definitely consider you one of their important person, two even more than the others, but for the past weeks, you had been trying to hide everything from them.

You were surprised you actually succeeded in doing so—collecting the used tissues papers that had fallen from your locker as quick as possible before any of them can see you in the hallway, ignoring the snarky remarks in the joint PE classes, covering the yet to erased words marked on your desk with your overly thick textbook when they came over.

It all happened gradually, from a small amount to bigger things, but never something too obvious that the teachers could notice easily. You had absolutely no idea why it was happening, but you suspect it had something to do with Sejun, who was nowhere to be found.

You knew you should tell someone about it. You knew you should tell your friends about this, but it was the fact that they were close to you that you didn’t want to drag them into this. You should not have to give them more burden than they already have, and you have this fear that they would think you were using them if you ever ask for their help with anything.

It was constant reassurance that you need, and it was constant reassurance that you were never brave enough to ask for.

You sighed heavily when a girl from across the hallway shot you a look before you had to chance to unlock your locker, warning you to step aside. You wanted to roll your eyes at the useless help but you should appreciate any help you can get at this point.

Placing your hand flat against your locker, you slowly pulled it open only to find that nothing was inside. You blinked in confusion at the empty space before your hand curled into a fist and you exhaled slowly to calm yourself. You had already taken all the materials needed for the day, and the only thing missing was your PE uniform that you would need after lunch.

You shut your locker, thanking your past self on insisting on putting everything in your own room where you could see them as you made your way down the hallway and down the stairs. You were going to save yourself from this one.

You arrived at the school field, where you knew the football team would be practicing for their upcoming game. Grimacing at the sun, you let your eyes shift away from the sky and down to the ground where the team was playing a practice game.

You couldn’t tell where Sejun was exactly since too many people were running around, huddled up in a group, but you made your way closer anyway. You walked over to the benches, where several students were seated. It was the perfect place for you to wait without having the sun blaze down on your eyes.

“Hey, you standing there!” One of the girls who was watching quietly from the bench, a board in one hand and a black ball pen in another. She eyed you curiously before nudging her chin to the field. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Oh, I am looking for Sejun… He probably didn’t do it but my PE uniform was gone from my locker and well, a lot of things happened,” you muttered under your breath with widened eyes that were full of hidden hated.

The girl blinked several times before realization flew to her eyes. Her jaw dropped slightly before she pointed at you, “(Name), right? The lesser Kim?”

Without waiting for a reply (not that you annoyed scoff and shoulder slump weren’t already a good enough answer for her), she turned back around to gesture at another student. Reaching over, she received something from him and turned back to you with your neatly folded PE uniform in hand.

You furrowed your brows at her, unsure of whether you should do something about the fact that she just openly admit that she was the one who opened your locker and took your belongings or be glad that she was handing it back to you without putting up a fight.

Do you make a big deal out of a fight you weren’t sure you can win and make yourself the center of attention in the worst way possible or do you lay low and let it happen until you completely break down? Or do you just ask for help?

You felt your lips arch downwards but you hid it by hardly pushing your lips together. “Thanks…” You said quietly.

“Yeah, sorry for everything that has been happening to you lately. We started the rumor that you rejected him and we did talk trash about you behind your back,” she confessed, “But Sejun was really bumped out about what your brother did. He couldn’t get his head in the game and the game is about to come up. We couldn’t really bring your brother down, so we thought you would be an easier target.”

She stopped talking, but something on her face told you that she was right. You were an easy target, far easier to step on than Woojin. She was right. You were called the lesser Kim for a reason, the name didn’t just come out of nowhere.

You clenched your fist. It hurt when she told you openly about it, but you found it even more saddening that you agreed with her. It was like your mind finally accepted the fact that you never loved who you were as a person, as much as you think that you did before.

“I’ve heard enough.”

You felt the hand clutching around your throat let go when you heard Woojin’s voice coming from behind you, his presence soon engulfed you as he stood by your side, just one step in front of your figure to show dominance in this situation.

“I am going to politely ask you to stop everything that you have been doing to them and I will let it go,” Woojin asked, urging them to stop this conversation as soon as possible before it gets more heated than it should be. He was standing at the edge of his nerves with one leg recklessly dangling out, with the slightest push and he would fall.

She raised an eyebrow, “You forgot you don’t have the upper hand here, right? You could not possibly do anything to us, or else that would just make you the same as Sejun over there. You are in a vulnerable situation here, Woojin, everyone in the school is looking at you.”

“I know, but I never said I was going to be the one to do something about it,” Woojin shrugged as he pulled out his phone. “Minho?”

You looked over, your eyes wide in shock when the familiar voice sounded through the phone. How long had they been listening to everything? You returned your attention back to the situation at hand and you saw that the girl looked more troubled than ever.

If everyone in the school is looking at Woojin, then Minho would be the one everyone is listening to. He was the school’s resident manipulative bitch, to put it badly. Got everyone running in circles around him as soon as he transferred here and became good friends with Woojin because he was one of the few who didn’t act on Minho’s bullshit.

Once Minho got his words out on what everyone had been doing to you, Sejun wasn’t just going to be humiliated, he was going to lose his entire sports career.

She scoffed, “How are we supposed to stop this. We weren’t the only ones. We thought we were going to be but turned out more people dislike them than we thought there were!”

Minho laughed from the phone, his voice static yet his sharp chuckle was enough to scare her off. “Better start working then, because if you know me, which you obviously do, I can’t keep my mouth shut!”

Woojin hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He smiled politely at the girl before spinning on his heels. Glancing briefly at you, he tugged at your elbow and pulled you along with him.

You trailed behind him hopelessly the entire way back to the school building, feeling utterly useless, yet again. “God, why did you do that?”

“What do you mean?” He asked at your incredulous question.

“I meant that I got it covered, you didn’t have to help me.” You grumbled.

“Right, because staying silent is the best way,” Woojin said, raising an eyebrow as he stopped walking and turned to face you completely. “Last time I checked, you thanked her for handing you back your uniform and nothing else.”

Your eyes squinted as you looked at him questioningly. Your shy bubble was being burst slowly the more he talks. “You’re one to talk. This is all because of you! You could have just let us be friends and none of this would have happened.”

“Sejun didn’t want to be your friend, I thought you heard our conversation back at home! I am doing this for your own good, (Name)!”

“You don’t know shit about what’s good for me. You’re not me, Woojin!” You gasped out.

Woojin looked defeated and also angry. There was a mixture of negative emotions behind his eyes. “What have I ever done to you for you to hate me this much, (Name)?”

“I don’t know, your entire existence bothers me, Woojin,” You replied mindlessly, “People don’t treat you the way they treat me. You can smell the favoritism from a mile away. You can’t even begin to imagine how it feels to have to let everyone down when they found out I wasn’t even half as good as you are in terms of everything I do. Nobody likes me, Woojin, why else do you think I am flying solo on such a big project?”

It was hard for you to look up at him when you finished and just then realized you never denied the fact that you hated him. You didn’t. Even if you did, you didn’t and you never will.

“I’m just going to go, lunch is almost over,” you breathed out a sigh and walked away without sparing him a glance.

Maybe it was best that you didn’t. You wouldn’t have to feel the guilt of hurting him so much on an emotional level that he wasn’t able to hide it behind a facade anymore, but you wouldn’t have known the answer to your question.

It wasn’t the latter. Woojin was hurt, way more than you thought he would.

* * *

Chan sat you down during lunch after a few days. He had enough of Woojin’s gloomy state and Felix’s constant anxiety over your well-being after not seeing you for weeks. You followed him out to the school backyard where it was more quiet and breezy.

You frowned as you sat down on the chair and set your lunch down. Chan was planning on sitting across from you, but on second thought, it would be better to sit next to you instead if he was going to talk to you about something more private, so he moved.

“Why didn’t you talk to us?” He asked first, his voice as soft as possible.

Your eyes went downward as your chewing slowed down. With a quick shrug of your shoulder, you spoke with a quiet voice, “I don’t know. I don’t want to trouble you guys, it is my problem.”

Chan hummed. It was a touchy subject. He didn’t want to intrude into what was going on inside your head when he wasn’t qualified enough to do so. Therefore, he decided to change the subject.

“Okay… look, I know it isn’t my place to butt in, but you need to talk to Woojin,” Chan started, keeping his voice on a lower, more soothing tone.

You rolled your eyes. “This is what you want to talk about? Oh god, goodbye–”

Chan curled his fingers around your wrist, his grip hard enough to tell you he was being serious about this and it made you sit back down obediently. You snatched your hand away and opened your lunch box to distract yourself from his gaze.

“You think you are the only one going through a hard time, don’t you?” Chan asked, “Because guess what, I was once at your place. Not trying to compare but I think I had it worse than you do right now. I was the middle child, with a better older sister and a sheltered younger brother. I was the neglected one, all the time.”

You hummed in fake disinterest.

“Woojin has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulder. He was expected to be good at everything and he worked his ass off to meet all of those expectations when nobody is watching him. This is his role as the older brother,” Chan said, “To give you a good example and just hoping to god one day you could be good enough to follow his footsteps.”

“And I wasn’t.” You said grimly.

Chan sighed, “I know, but Woojin never pointed that out, did he? It was always someone else, not him. He didn’t ask anyone to pick on you. You are giving him hate for what he has no control over, (Name), you think he doesn’t notice? Sometimes, the hate you give him is equivalent to the disappointment you receive from your relatives.”

You bit on your lower lip, letting Chan’s words sink in slowly. You knew that you were giving Woojin necessary trouble. Truthfully, hurting him drains your energy too. But it was easier to vent everything out on him than having to stand up for yourself in family gatherings. It was easier for you to blame him. Woojin wasn’t going to really fight you back anyway.

You exhaled, tears threatening to spill.

You had been taking his love for granted.

“I’m sorry,” you said with a timid voice.

Chan pursed his lips into a faint smile as he reached up to pat your head comfortingly. “I know you are. But you should really tell him that instead of me.”

“He’s mad at me, isn’t he?”

“I think he is always mad at you, (Name),” Chan pointed out, “But the thing is, with siblings, you don’t ever truly hate each other and disputes are easy to solve. We stick together at the end of the day.”

You smiled. You understood exactly what he meant.

* * *

Felix blocked you from turning around and leaving, his expression one of tenderness and embarrassment that you two were standing so close. He made a soft noise from the back of his throat, his hand gently linking with yours as he attempted to push toward the door of the student council room.

“You have to do it,” he whispered with a smile.

You looked into his eyes and he could see the panic in them. Felix opened his mouth but his voice hitched when you suddenly exhaled and leaned your forehead against his shoulder for comfort.

“I will, but let me apologize to you first,” you muttered under your breath. “Sorry, I didn’t know you hated Sejun. I would have never become his friend. Just so you know, I am always on your side, Felix.”

“Okay,” he managed out with a rapidly beating heart that you could feel against your chest as you hugged him tightly.

You smiled as you pulled away. “Okay, time for the scary part.”

You turned around and slowly slid the door open. When you saw Woojin standing by the shelf, you could almost feel your legs urging you to turn around and run and hear your mind telling you repeatedly that you could live without a brother for the rest of your life.

Apologizing to a sibling was as gut-wrenching as confessing to someone you like, if not even scarier.

“Hey,” your voice trailed off as you greeted, leaning your weight uncomfortable to your right leg.

Woojin looked over at you, waiting for you to continue. When you didn’t, he tilted his head, “What?”

His voice was casual as if nothing had ever happened between the two of you. Like it was just another round of bickering he could toss aside after a good night sleep, which he did.

“I… uh…” You puffed your cheeks, “I have coupons to the chicken shop nearby, do you want to get takeout for tonight? My treat.”

Woojin stared at you for a moment, there was not one trace of emotion on his face until he nodded with approval. “The one by the tutorial center?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh great, I was craving some today,” He exclaimed, “Just hold on, I’m going to finish up and we can leave.”

You pursed your lips into a smile. “I’ll wait outside.”

This was the thing with siblings. They speak a whole different kind of language that a single child will never understand. Their ability to get over something quickly can be really shocking.

Siblings are unconditional love masked by layers and layers of frustration, annoyance, and hatred; They are slapping each other across the arm but defending each other until the end of the line when someone else comes into the equation; They are forgetting each others’ birthdays but remembering that one of you gets a headache in crowd places and one of you is allergic to peanuts.

“Felix is staying with us,” Woojin said as soon as he walked out of the room, locking it and placing the keys carefully back to his bag. “Chan was okay with him staying over but Felix just skipped over him as soon as I suggested he can stay with us.”

You laughed, “Really? Oh, how could he break Chan’s little heart like that?”

Woojin chuckled silently. You were one to talk about breaking people’s heart. “Anyway, grandpa’s birthday is coming up. You know what to do.”

You groaned, “God, I am not babysitting those pieces of shit again.”

“You never did, I was the one who put up with them. You just sit on the chair and play hide and seek with them,” Woojin exclaimed, “Except it’s hide and no one ever seeks… it is a great idea. We should do that.”

“Been doing it since forever. Catch up, old man.” You laughed, walking ahead of him as you tried to find a way to break it to him that you didn’t bring your wallet to school and he was the one who has to pay for the chicken.

Oh well, he would be fine with it.

This is what siblings are, they are an unspoken promise that they will always stick by each other forever.


End file.
